


Rein of the Caribbean

by ReinbewPastel



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies), Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow - Rob Kidd
Genre: Gen, Self Insert, Young Jack Sparrow, jack sparrow books, pirates of the caribbean - Freeform, rob kidd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:53:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27486061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReinbewPastel/pseuds/ReinbewPastel
Summary: A girl in her 20s who goes by Rein has always fantasized about being a pirate, and meeting her hero, the young Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean Jack Sparrow novels. When falling asleep after yet another fight within her home, she somehow wakes up aboard a ship in the middle of a cursed storm. Will she survive the harsh environment that is the Caribbean? And will she somehow befriend her heroes?Yes, this is a self insert fic. It's a retelling of the Young Jack Sparrow books, but with me thrown into them. I just had the sudden inspiration to write this lol. I wrote this in the intention of not publishing it, to kinda fan service myself. But considering I've spent so much time on it so far, and that there are a few who are interested in reading it, I've decided to put it up.Hope you enjoy!Originally published in 2019.FanFiction by me, Reinbew PastelPirates of the Caribbean Jack Sparrow by Rob Kidd © Disney PressAll the characters (except for myself), and the original writings of the story my fic is based around were written by all by the authors under the pseudonym of Rob Kidd
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. The Beginning

_(Rein's POV)_

_Have you ever been in love with someone for practically your entire life, but you know it's completely impossible to ever be with them or meet them? Knowing they are in a whole different world that doesn't exist in yours, aside from works of fiction. Seeing their face on paintings and drawings, and never being able to imagine what they'd look like in real life. It's impossible to picture how their smile would look like, how tall they are, what their hair feels like running your fingers through it, or what it feels like when they stare into your eyes. The love you have for any crush you had in school and every partner you've had feels fake knowing your heart truly goes out to someone that doesn't even exist. You smile every time you look at a picture of them and you cry when you realize this person isn't real. You feel strange for knowing you've been in love with them from ever since you were several years younger than them, to now that you're several years older than them. You always think about what it would be like to live in their world and what the person you love would think about you. Would it ever work out between either of you? Would you two remain friends? Would they fall for the other person in their world they probably have a crush on?_

Those are the things I think about everyday. For anonymity's sake, I'll just call myself Rein. I am a female in my early twenties and my thing is well...Pirates of the Caribbean. I know, pretty abnormal for someone like me to be into. I've grown up with the films throughout my entire childhood, and I've seen pretty much everything in between the releases of the first and last films.

From a young age, I have always been fascinated with the world of the golden age of piracy, and well, the 17th-18th century in general. I've always been about the rugged pirate life. The clothes, the weapons, the ships, pretty much everything about it! I had always pictured myself stowing away on a ship under the guise of a boy and living the life of a pirate. I'm pretty sure that's what most female pirates realistically did anyways since women were banned from most ships at the time. They were considered bad luck. No woman would ever flaunt their femininity on a pirate ship, so they would have likely just dressed like men. I liked whatever the men wore much better than the stuff women wore anyway, like the petticoats that are hard to walk in and the stays that are tied so tight you can barely breathe.

In the world of Pirates of the Caribbean, the character I have always been most interested in was Captain Jack Sparrow. Most people see him as this lowlife, selfish, dishonest, drunken pirate. As much as he is that, for every flaw he has, there's always a strength that comes with it. He's selfish for the good of others, truthful when he needs to be, and there's kindness deep down through his cruel nature. Every opportunity he has to obtain power, immortality, and unlimited freedom, he sacrifices it for the sake of his friends and crew mates. I have always admired his cunning, wit, and desire for adventure and freedom, and I've always found him quite mysterious as well.

Speaking of mysterious, that is what his past had very much seemed to be. During the golden years of the franchise, a certain book series began that acted as a prequel to the films. They focused on Jack Sparrow's teenage years and his early adventures on a small boat with a motley crew. I had always had an admiration for Captain Jack before those books, and at nine years old, I was quite the typical Johnny Depp fangirl as well. But the first time I ever laid eyes on this young Jack Sparrow, I felt something I had never felt before. Young Jack...he was so adorable, yet so hot. He was just like our regular Captain Jack we all know and love, but more pint-sized, although I'd imagine teenage Jack isn't too much shorter than his adult forty something year old counterpart.

Throughout my teenage years, and my now young adult years, I have been so much in love with young Jack. Not very many guys liked me in high school (let's just say I'm not very conventionally attractive), but any who did, I rejected because it felt so wrong. Everything I aforementioned in the beginning was exactly how I feel about Jack. I always felt so silly about it too, being so much in love with a fictional character of all people, to the point where I never felt happy in any relationship with real life people. Some people have told me that my obsession with Pirates of the Caribbean is getting old and that I should join other fandoms, but most people never understood how difficult it has been for me to do that.

It was just another one of those days where I lay in bed absolutely broken. Yet again, I had got into another fight with my family, and I had packed my things and ran off to a friend's apartment for the night.

Laying in the top bunk, I stared up at the ceiling in silence and darkness as tears welled up in my eyes. I turned my head to the right, glancing over to my things next to me on the bed. The light of the window revealed some of my plushies, a tissue box, my phone, and one of my young Jack Sparrow books I managed to bring.

This one was _The Coming Storm_ , the first in the series. I grabbed it and held it up and smiled, staring at him smirking right back at me. My heart melted every time I saw the face of this boy. _If only he was real..._

I pressed the book against my chest and sighed. I put the book back down next to me and grabbed my phone. The official audiobooks for this series had just come out not too long ago, so I went on the Audible app, went to the _Adventures of Young Jack Sparrow_ audiobooks, stuck my earbuds in my ears and hit play at the beginning of the first book.

I closed my eyes as I listened to the narrator read the book. I remembered the part of Arabella yelling at Jack in the back of the tavern, and then the young nobleman Fitzwilliam dueling with Jack. The part the storm took place was where I slowly began to fall asleep...


	2. The Coming Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is SUPER cheesy but I hope y'all enjoy ^^" lol

_(Rein's POV)_

I woke up to the feeling of the ground rocking. My eyes immediately popped open thinking I was in an earthquake, knowing the state I live in is famous for those. I rubbed my eyes and looked around, realizing I was not in my friend's studio anymore. This looked nothing like an apartment at all! I was in a small, somewhat long room with a low ceiling. The floor, walls, and ceiling was made of wood and timber, and much of the area was aligned with bunks and hammocks. I, myself, was in a bunk.

"What in the actual—" I stopped when I felt a large drop of water hit my face.

I glanced up and saw the ceiling above me was leaking. My eyes panning around the room while still feeling the rocking, I had come to realize I was not actually in a room. I was in one of the lower decks of a ship! I got up out of my bunk and saw I was not alone. Many crew members were running through the deck and running up and down the stairs.

I paid so much attention to where I was at, I didn't realize what I was wearing until I looked down. I wasn't in my pajamas anymore. I was wearing a long sleeved, baggy off-white beige linen shirt that was halfway tucked into my black breeches that went down below my knees. I looked over to my bunk where more of my belongings were tucked away under the bunk.

"I-I can't believe it...I'm on a pirate ship...in the 18th century!" I said to myself in disbelief. _This has to be a dream!_ I pinched myself, over and over again. _Nope. Definitely not a dream...I don't think._

Even though I knew I was supposedly in the 18th century, I still instinctively searched my pockets for my phone. Surprisingly enough, I felt something like metal in my pocket and I pulled it out. It was my little rosegold iPhone. It definitely stuck out like a sore thumb in this time period. I was a bit confused as to how it came with me when I somehow transported here. I pressed the home button and watched my screen light up. My phone still had power left, but of course there was no service since there was no data in the 18th century, making the phone nothing more than a useless piece of junk. I had it backed up beforehand anyway in case anything were to happen to it. I slid the phone back in my pocket before anyone could see it and quickly rummaged through my belongings.

I heard someone, possibly the captain, yelling up on the deck, and the rocking was so strong now, I almost fell to the ground. I quickly grabbed a random burgundy waistcoat and a matching sash. I threw on a belt with a knife already holstered in, a pair of long socks and buckled shoes, and I tied my hair up with a leather strap as I rushed my way to the stairs and up to the deck.

Just as I opened the hatch, I was hit with a massive sheet of rain, immediately soaking me. I scanned the deck while shielding my eyes from the rain with my hand. I was sure on a ship alright..., but to my disappointment it was not a pirate ship. The lot of men on this ship seemed to be nothing more than regular people, probably merchants.

CRASH!! BOOM!! A crash of lightening made me jump about ten feet in the air in a startle. I always had a fear of being struck by lightning.... I then felt a forceful push that dragged me across the deck. A small group of men pulled me towards some lines by the railing. I didn't know exactly what to do at this moment, but I guessed this was what I was supposed to do, so I began tying lines with other sailors even though I knew next to nothing about tying knots and such. I gazed around the deck as I tied the lines. A figure with brownish-red hair rushed past me and I looked back to see what it was. Distracted, I failed to notice a big wave had crept up to the railing. It slammed down right on top of me, knocking me off my feet. The water pulled back over the railing taking me with it. I managed to grab onto the railing before it would pull me overboard. I tried pulling myself back over the railing, but I didn't have enough strength and the railing was slippery.

I screamed and yelled for help. "HEY! HELP ME! I'M GONNA FALL OVERBOARD! HELP!"

It was hopeless. No one could hear me over the screams of the wind and the claps of thunder. Another big wave pushed onto me again, making me lose my grip and slip off the railing.

I plunged into the cold unforgiving sea. My body felt frozen from the shock at first, but I was suddenly able to move. I pushed myself up towards the surface, which was proving very difficult with the little strength I had and the little breath I had left since I didn't even have a moment to fill my lungs with air before the fall. I tried not to focus on the little breath I had and focused on trying to get to the surface. I closed my eyes as I pushed myself to the top.

Just as I was about to run out of air, my head suddenly broke the surface. I gasped and sputtered, coughing up seawater at the same time. Even though I made it to the surface, I still wasn't in the clear from certain death. I wasn't sure if I could keep myself afloat for very long, especially in these waters. Though I do have meat on my bones you'd think would keep me afloat, it still wouldn't mean I would not drown. My heavy clothing wasn't helping very much and the wild waves kept pushing me down. After a few minutes of trying to stay afloat, the waves were seemingly winning this battle. Every time I tried to gasp for air, a swell of the ocean slammed down on me, making me take in big gulps of water instead. The water burned as it came down my throat and into my stomach and lungs. In the background, I heard crashes and people screaming, which I assumed was from the ship I was just on. Everything was falling apart around me. I was dragged down underwater again, with no way of getting back up.

_I never experienced the feeling of drowning before even though I'm not that great of a swimmer. Is this what it really feels like? Is this how I am going to die?_

My body kept taking in big gulps of water as I saw little bits of light speckle across my vision. Before I knew it, everything went black...  
  


I woke up laying on my stomach, my face against something soft yet rough that felt like sand. My fingers dug into the sand, the smell of salt overtook my nostrils. Cold water from the sea hit my back every now and then. Just as I suspected, I was on a beach. I pulled myself up a little and began coughing up the water I had swallowed and breathed in. I coughed so hard, I almost felt like I was going to puke.

" _Ah bien_ , look what we have here!" A voice rang through my water clogged ears from above. "Our friend is awake!"

I looked up to see two young boys standing over me. The one who spoke had dark skin and brownish-red hair, just like the figure on the deck of the ship I had ended up on. The boy next to him was a bit shorter, and had glossy black hair and tanned skin.

_Wait a minute...Am I seeing who I think I am seeing?_

Slowly and carefully, I managed to pull myself onto my feet, while still coughing up water of course. As I studied the two boys, I noticed that the boy with the brownish-red hair had mischievous green eyes and freckles that matched his hair, and the boy with the black hair had dark eyes and a sharp nose. I wasn't quite sure if I was already friends with them before I awoke on the ship.

"A-are you... _Jean_?" I asked to the first boy. I put on a fake accent to fit myself into this world, hoping I sounded convincing enough. I also deepened my voice a bit to not sound too feminine since I wasn't sure how I wanted to present myself.

"Ah, _oui_!" the boy answered. "But...how did you know my name?"

"Ah...um, it was a good guess...I guess," I stuttered nervously. I then looked over to the other boy who seemed a bit quiet.

"I'm Tumen," the other boy quietly uttered.

I tried not to look visibly shocked or starstruck, but on the inside, I very much was. They were actually Jean and Tumen from the young Jack Sparrow books! They were a bit shorter than I imagined they would be, with Jean being maybe only an inch or so taller than me and Tumen being near my exact height. I probably should have expected it knowing they were both about twelve or thirteen, but I expected them to at least be slightly a bit taller than me. I'm short, so I usually almost always expected everyone to be taller than me.

Jean bowed. "And I don't believe I've gotten your name?"

I clammed up. I impulsively decided at this moment I wanted to be known as a boy, especially since that was how I likely would have gone on that ship in the first place. "Uh...Ja....James!"

I felt like the name was closest to my real name and sounded masculine enough. That was what some of my friends called me anyway when they needed something from me.

Just then, something gray and hairy popped out in front of me, hissing and spitting at the ground. It had gross looking, wet, mangy fur and yellow claws and teeth. It looked like a cat, but cats are cute. This cat was... _not_ cute... _It's Constance!_

Jean picked up the furry beast and snuggled her. "This here is _ma sœur_ , Constance! Quite a bit of a story, but she was cursed and turned into a cat by the mystic Tia Dalma."

"Aw! Poor kitty!" I cooed. The cat lover in me almost put my hand out to pet her, but I immediately remembered it was Constance so I stopped myself.

"I don't think I ever recall seeing you aboard the _Seraph_ ," Jean said.

"To be honest, I don't even recall how I came aboard the ship in the first place," I laughed awkwardly.

Jean shrugged. He then sighed and looked out to the water. There were still bits of driftwood that was scattered across the sea before us.

"Well, it looks like we are the only survivors," Jean said glumly.

"Well, I guess we can go try to find food and water, and a way to build a raft to get out of here," I suggested, nodding my head towards the thick brush on the other side of the beach.

"That's all that we really can do, right?" Jean said, scratching his feline sister under her chin. She purred in agreement.  
  


The three of us, well four counting the cat, trudged through the hot, sweltering scrubs and brushes for what felt like hours. I was especially hoping to find water since I never took heat very well and was usually one to get dehydrated easily.

I remembered Jean mentioning the _Seraph_ earlier. _That's the same ship he mentioned he and Tumen got shipwrecked from in the book. So if everything adds up and the timeline I was thrown into follows along with the story, then that means we're in Isla Esquelética, and that also means,...I'm going to meet Jack Sparrow!_

My heart almost skipped a beat making this realization. _W-what am I going to say to him? Will he like me as a person? As a friend? As a partner? How will I—heck am I even going to introduce myself to him? I hope I don't make this awkward!_

We eventually found a nice shaded area with lots of trees and soft grass. Plenty of coconuts to eat and most importantly of all, we found a freshwater spring just up the path!

I ran to the spring in relief and joy. I got down onto my knees as I cupped my hands with water and began to drink.

I spent extra time by the spring as Jean and Tumen went back to the grassy patch with bags of water. I splashed some water on my face to cool down, letting the cool water run down my shirt. Satisfied, I stood back up and looked down to see Constance below me. I didn't notice the feline had also been drinking next to me. Constance looked up at me and mewed, and began to run through and rub on my legs.

"Eww..." I wanted to believe she was cute like all cats, but she was well...mangey and disgusting. My heart broke for her.

She mewed again and her long scraggly crooked tail whipped, urging me to follow her. And so I did.

I followed the cat up a small path that was no more than an indentation in the dirt. It went around the back of the spring and up the rise behind it. The path slowly climbed into a jungle. The scrub and vines in the jungle were a bit hard to walk through, and everything was eerily silent. The dirt path then opened to flat stone that had long ago been paved in. A few more minutes into the path, Constance then stopped and looked down at something at the side, and began to sniff at it.

"Errr...what're you sniffing at, cat?" I asked as I examined whatever Constance was sniffing at.

Whatever it was looked like ribs from something deceased. I panned up the row of ribs and saw something that made my stomach drop. It was a skull. A full, human skull. I screamed and grabbed the cat with no second thought, but not without some struggle from that beast as she grabbed a bone with her mouth. I ran back down the path, out of the jungle, and down the climb around the spring. _Yup...This is Isla Esquelética alright..._

I finally made it back to the grassy area where Jean and Tumen were sitting on some stumps eating out of coconuts. I let go of the cat as I panted. The two boys quickly stood up, sensing there was something wrong.

"James! What happened? What's wrong?!" Jean asked in worry.

"There were...there were... _bones_!" I managed to spit out while collecting myself.

We then heard a yelp that came from Tumen.

"Eww!" Tumen cringed at what he saw. Constance had presented him the bone she had managed to grab. Tumen picked up the bone and held it out to us.

Jean grimaced as he examined the bone in Tumen's hand. "Looks like the bone of _un humain_!"

"It is...and there was a whole human skull!" I trembled.

"Well my friends, looks like we're going to stick close to the beach," Jean said.  
  


We spent the rest of the day and the next morning working on the raft. I tore off a long piece of my sash and wrapped it around my head like a bandana to keep the sweat out of my eyes and I pulled up my sleeves a bit.

As I gathered lumber into a pile, I noticed there was something on my arm. I stopped what I was doing to examine it. It was a number inked into my arm like a tattoo. " _55_." I licked my finger to try to rub it off. Nope, seemed pretty permanent. _What is so important about this number?_ I immediately pulled my sleeve down so the tattoo wouldn't be seen.

Just then, I heard rustling in the bushes that almost made me jump.

"Well, _bonswa_ and _bienvenue_!" Jean called out. "Look what we got here, Tumen and James! New friends—and maybe a way off this island!"

I looked up and saw that the bushes had been pushed aside, revealing three young kids, just a few years older than Jean and Tumen. _The golden trio!_


	3. Meeting The Legend

_(Rein's POV)_

_I-I can't believe it! All of my heroes are standing before me at this very moment!_

"Welcome to our deserted island," Jean said, bowing theatrically to the two boys and the girl who appeared from the bushes. "I am Jean, and these are my friends, Tumen and James."

Tumen gave a very slight nod and I managed to peep out a quick "Hi."

"I'm Jack Sparrow," one of the boys said. "This is Arabella and Fitz."

All the blood from my head rushed down to my feet. My knees felt weak, my face started to feel warm, and tears nearly formed in my eyes. _I'm standing right in front of the legend himself, and the love of my life, Captain Jack Sparrow—well the young Jack Sparrow... And I SPOKE to him, too! He only really knows me as a boy and we literally only just met, so I must keep myself together._ I straightened my back and gave a slight nod. Jack responded with a smirk. _Ugh! His famous smirk is so adorable in real life! This is going to be difficult..._

Now that they were all together, it was sort of weird seeing the whole _Barnacle_ crew in real life. I had only ever seen them in stylized Disney-centric drawings and paintings, so seeing them all as real people was quite different to say the least. Jean and Tumen were quite as I expected them to look, and sort of Constance as well. Arabella was absolutely gorgeous! She had tousled auburn hair and brown eyes, and her face was a bit younger looking than I would have thought, but she was about sixteen anyway so no surprise there. She was also about an inch taller than Jack too, which I had suspected and headcanoned, but that would be a surprise to most other fans of the books. Fitzwilliam, while still pretty handsome, sort of reminded me of the stereotypical smarmy rich kid in movies, with a bit of the annoying high school jock too. His hair was a bit darker than I imagined too, like a dirty blonde, almost light brown. I think that was because he was originally designed with darker hair in the first few books, before making him fully blonde in the second story arc. And Jack....oh Jack! He looked a lot better than how I thought he would look! He was almost like a little young Johnny Depp with a total baby face. He also very much reminded me of a certain kid who was a background character from a scene in one of the Pirates films. His dark brown and black hair mopped over his bright red bandana, he had such sweet brown eyes that were faintly lined with kohl and his smile made me feel warm inside. His body was lean, and he wasn't surprisingly too much taller than me. I probably only went about up to his nose. But oh my god, Jack was so adorable, handsome, and sexy!

As a cosplayer, I also took a minute to appreciate their clothing. There were so many details in their clothes that were never drawn in the books! Like the patterns and design in Arabella's bodice and shirt, the kerchief loosely tied around Jean's neck under the collar of his shirt, and the brocades on Fitzwilliam's trademark blue jacket.

Jean picked up a water bag off a stump and offered it to Arabella, who drank hungrily.

"You were caught in the same cursed storm, huh?" Jean asked. "Tumen and I, and James were on the _Seraph_. I think we are the only survivors—the English don't teach their sailors to swim very well."

"That's terrible," Arabella said, taking a deep breath, wiping her mouth, and handing the water bag over to Fitzwilliam.

"It's pretty hot and not so nice around here. But still, this is not the worst place to have washed up," Jean pointed to the island around us. "Coconuts for eating, a freshwater spring up that way. And plenty of lumber. We're building a raft to try to get back to our home port." He pointed to the pile of crudely chopped driftwood logs we gathered. Nearby lay the several coiled lengths of vine, to lash the logs together.

"There's more water, then?" Fitzwilliam asked, as he handed the water bag to Jack, who turned it upside down—not a drop left!

"There's as much as you want, my friend." Jean laughed. "If you don't mind the... _ambiance_."

Tumen held up the human bone I had found earlier.

Jack choked.

"Oh, my goodness," Arabella breathed.

"Plenty if more where that came from, too," Jean said darkly. He glanced over at me and I nodded. "That is why we have been sticking close to the beach."

Jack, Arabella, and Fitz stared at the bone in silence.

_HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST!_

Arabella screamed and Fitzwilliam jumped back as Constance burst into the clearing. She leapt onto a stump, hissing and yowling and baring ugly yellow fangs.

Tumen gave a faint smile. Jean and I laughed.

"What in Greater Antilles is _that_?" Jack asked.

" _That_ is Constance." Jean knelt down on one knee and scratched the monster delicately under the chin. It calmed down and began behaving like an actual cat. A scrawny, mangy, scary cat with wild yellow eyes and a crooked tail.

"You managed to save that cat along with yourselves?" Jack said, sneering over at the nasty little creature. " _Why_?"

"Constance isn't _just_ a cat," Jean said proudly. "She is my sister."

The crew of the _Barnacle_ looked at each other.

"Your sister," Jack said dubiously.

"She _is_ my sister. Well, she was. I mean she is, but she's not like she used to be. See, she's under a curse, cast by the mystic Tia Dalma herself."

"Was the spell cast because she was this vile in her previous incarnation?" Jack asked.

"Aw, poor thing," Arabella said, reaching a hand out to the cat. "Let me just— _ow_!"

Constance hissed again and swiped out with a paw full of long, yellow claws. They left three bloody scratches on the back of Arabella's hand.

"You little..." Arabella said, pulling her hand away.

" _Definitely_ nasty," Jack said.

"What a little brute," Fitzwilliam said in wonder, offering Arabella a handkerchief. She took it and wrapped it around her hand. Constance growled a little. Then she leapt off the post and walked away sulkily, her crooked tail high in the air.

"She's been through a lot," Jean protested.

Jack rolled his eyes. "All right. Now that we have _all_ been introduced—and I assume there isn't anyone else? No nephews turned into rats, no second cousins turned into rabid dogs? No? Well then, would you mind leading us to this spring you mentioned?"

"With pleasure," Jean grinned. "Follow me!"


	4. City of the Dead

_(Rein's POV)_

The crew of the _Barnacle_ followed us along the well-worn path down into the jungle. I was still in awe at the fact I was in the presence of all my heroes, especially Jack!

"Aren't ye a bit wee, lad, I mean to serve on a ship?" Arabella asked Jean curiously. She probably figured that Jean and Tumen were years younger than her and the other two boys. I didn't know what she thought about me though.

"Not a private merchant ship—" Jean gave an elaborate shrug, not missing a step through the undergrowth. "As the song says, 'there are a lot of ships in the Caribbean...' And a lot of rum and sugar that sails in the high seas. Tumen and I, we have an advantage: we are reliable, we are not married, and unlike the _old_ salts—we do not _drink_." He grinned at Arabella who smiled back.

Behind us, I could hear Jack and Fitzwilliam conversing.

"Are you going to tell them of our vessel, the _Barnacle_?" Fitzwilliam asked.

"Of course I am," Jack said in a dismissive huff. "They need a ship and we need a crew."

"Assuming they even want to join us, are you sure that's wise? We do not know anything about them, really."

_Ugh, I want to go with them so bad! I know we will likely end up joining, but I'm afraid of doing anything to screw it up and change the story completely!_

"Well, besides the odd stroke of luck that saved our tails on this most recent mission, we don't know anything about _navigation_ either," Jack pointed out. "Or did you miss the bit where we got lost and wound up in a hurricane? These lads know what they're doing. We'll never find the Sword of Cortés without decent navigators."

"All right, but if anything happens, I will take Jean and Tumen. You take James." Fitzwilliam tapped the pommel of his sword.

"And Arabella gets the cat," Jack said, adding, "hardly a fair fight...poor Bell!"

"Ah—here we are," Jean declared. "Drink up, _mes amis_!"

We came upon the secluded little nook Jean, Tumen, and I found the day before. A rocky overhang shaded a series of clear pools fed by a spring that bubbled up like a fountain.

Arabella immediately fell to the ground and began drinking handfuls of the cold water.

Jean laughed. "The pool below the spring is just as clean—and much easier to fill your bags with."

"And have you suffered any ill effects as a result of drinking this?" Fitzwilliam asked.

"It's been a full day now, and _non_ ," Jean said with a shrug. He sat down and rested his hands on his knees. Tumen stood quietly nearby and I lingered around, listening to the conversation. "But what are you going to do, now that you have water? Please tell me that the three of you have a ship to go back to..."

"As a matter of fact, we do," Jack answered proudly. "The mighty _Barnacle_ survived the storm. We just need to strengthen the mast and she's set to sail."

"Where is the rest of your crew?" Tumen asked.

"Ah, you're looking at it," Jack said, grinning.

Jean laughed again. " _Mon dieu_ —mighty, you said your ship was?"

"Can you take us to our port?" Tumen asked.

"Aye," Jack said. Fitzwilliam was right, it _did_ seem a little too early to invite the three—four of us with open arms. "We could. If it's on our way..."

"I'd like to stay with you guys," I piped up. _Wait...should I have said that?_

Jack looked over at me in surprise, then smiled again. _Oh god his smile is so cute!_ He then strode over to me and rested an arm on my shoulder, facing Jean and Tumen.

"Ah, see that?" Jack said. "The lad here knows what's up!"

"Oh! Disgusting!" Arabella shouted suddenly, trying not to shriek.

It first appeared as if Constance were making amends, trotting up to Arabella's injured hand and mewing a little. But instead of licking it or purring, the cat daintily dropped a human finger bone into the grass before her.

Jack looked curious. "Where are all these coming from?" he asked.

"Up the path, there," I said, stealing Jean's line from the book.

Jean continued. "We can take a closer look, if you'd like."

Just as we all turned to go, I could hear Arabella tell the cat, "This isn't over." I held in a small giggle.  
  


We followed the path I had followed Constance up before. Around the back of the spring, before climbing slowly toward the jungle. Halfway up the hill, we could see over the jungle vines to the beach.

"What?" I heard Jack say in a puzzled tone.

I looked over to where Jack was squinting at. Squinting as well, I could see a little boat bobbing against large swells of water. _Wait...that's the Barnacle!_ The surf seemed to be growing rough, and to the north the sky was growing cloudy again.

"Not that storm again!" Arabella sighed. "It's like it's _following_ us."

"That is very strange," Jean said. "It's seemed to have gone past us. _To_ the north, as it should have. I've never seen a tropical storm come _from_ the north."

A bent and gnarled beach pine shivered in the rising breeze, making creepy whispery noises as the wind blew through its needles.

"It's headed right towards us. Again," Jack confirmed. He looked back at the beach, then forward into the green, tropical center of the island. "We should press on—faster," he decided. "We'll be safer under the cover of the jungle."

No one disagreed.

We plunged forward, and in a few minutes we were under curvy palms and thick vibes, leaving the scrub behind. The breeze blew harder, making the giant leaves rattle against each other. Except for the rustling leaves, it was completely silent. No insects chirped or birds called. Not a single animal was there to be seen or heard.

"I wish I could wear trousers," Arabella complained, carefully lifting her skirt as she stepped over a log.

"You would make a very pretty pirate," Jean said, grinning. "But how did your friends let you aboard? Women are bad luck on ships, you know."

"So are _cats_ ," Arabella shot back, shaking her fist at him where Constance's scratches still bled a little.

I was about to jump in, but I held my tongue knowing I was the only one out of everyone here that knew I was in fact _also_ a woman.

" _Touché_ ," Fitzwilliam said, smiling for what seemed like the first time.

"Oh, you speak French, too?" Jean asked.

" _Oui_. French, German, Latin, and Greek," Fitz said proudly.

"Ah. Excellent. _Greek_ ," Jack said. "No doubt that will be useful when we come up against angry natives on this island."

" _Nreramaj ri qach'ab'äl MA JUN saqwinäq itzel_ ," Tumen muttered.

"What did he say?" Arabella asked, curious.

Jean shrugged. "It wasn't French Creole."  
  


Soon the path grew a little wider, and flat stones appeared underfoot, pushing their way out of the moss at regular intervals, almost as if the path had once been a paved road.

At first, it was hard to see all the bones. They were old and dry and splintered, like pieces of driftwood or fallen branches from a long-dead tree.

Further on, larger pieces of skeletons began to litter the ground. Whole skulls and rib cages poked out of the dirt, much like the one Constance and I saw. Old, rotted clothing and leather belts hung limply from thin bony frames, slowly being reclaimed by the jungle.

_From the way things are going, it seems to be going through the whole story of The Coming Storm! To test my theory, I'll try to remember the events in the book and see if it actually happens. I've read this book too many times to not know. Think, Rein! Think! I believe from here, Arabella is supposed to say something..._

"I wonder what killed them all," Arabella said in wonder. "There are no marks on the bones. It doesn't seem like there was a war, or any sort of battle. They just seem to have...died."

_And then Fitzwilliam..._

"There are so many," Fitzwilliam said, sounding a lot less brave than he probably would have liked.

_And then Jack..._

"Well," Jack said flatly. "Very exciting. Our first meeting with the natives. I wonder if they really do speak Greek."

_And then Constance is supposed to run off..._

Just then Constance hissed and ran ahead, disappearing around the bend.

"CONSTANCE!" Jean yelled.

_Oh no..._

Just as he was about to run, I impulsively grabbed his arm.

"No, Jean! You can't go! It's too dangerous!" I begged.

"I have to get my sister!" Jean said. He pulled himself out of my grip and ran forward, pushing Jack aside.

"James is right. Maybe you shouldn't—" Jack began.

But Jean had already vanished into the underbrush.

"Blasted kids..." Jack said through gritted teeth.

"He's going to fall..." I breathed.

"What?" Jack hesitated. He shook it off and ran after Jean. I ran after him as well.

"Constance, get down from there," we heard Jean saying. There was an unpleasant scraping noise—like claws scratching at rock. "NO! Constance, NO!"

When Jack and I turned the corner, we saw Jean standing there by himself. There was a strange, surprised look on his face.

The ground was giving away beneath Jean's feet. Large boulders creaked and shuddered, then rolled forward and down, disappearing.

Jean pitched down after them, disappearing into the darkness.

Jack gazed at me in bewilderment. "Well I'll be blessed and blasted," he said in wonder. "You were telling the truth!"

"It's almost like you predicted the future!" Arabella added.

"What kind of sorcery is this?" Fitzwilliam asked, putting a hand on the hilt of his sword.

They all stared at me with wide eyes. _Oh shit..._

"Uh...no...I-I just..." I nervously stuttered, trying to think of an explanation. I was then saved by an interruption.

"Jean!" Tumen yelled, running forward. Jack, Arabella, Fitzwilliam, and I followed close behind.

We stopped and stared at the scene below us.

It wasn't a pit, it was a small valley, just below us. What we were standing on was actually the top of a city wall—the boulders had been part of a turret. Down below stretched the sunken remains of an ancient city. Crumbling houses, dust-covered boulevards nearly laid out in stone, wells gone dry long ago. And it was littered with hundreds upon hundreds of skeletons.

"Well, good day, City of the Dead," Jack said, smiling.  
  


In the valley below, Jean was rubbing his head. Otherwise, he didn't look too badly hurt.

"I'm all right," he called up. Then he turned and saw where he was. A lonely wind blew, whistling and moaning through the ancient structures. It raised an eerie dust cloud over the empty streets, scattering the bones as it went.

"This place is accursed," Fitzwilliam said grimly. "We should not tarry here."

"No, wait! Jack," Arabella cried. "'A city near and well-designed, like the Romans built.' A pirate paradise!" she said excitedly. "And look!" She pointed at what looked like a variation of an Aztec pyramid in the dead center of the city. Then, noticing a coin by her feet, she bent to pick it up. An _S_ and a crude hieroglyph of an eye were carved on its face. "This is _his_ island, Jack! This is the pirate kingdom we were looking for!"

Jack took in the scene and smiled.

"You were _looking_ for this place?" Jean asked from below.

"We are _looking_ for the Sword of Cortés," Jack explained.

Jean and Tumen each muttered something in each his own language. Constance hissed at nothing in particular.

"Years ago, he took the sword and sheath and made himself king of an isolated island. _This_ island," I uttered, repeating Arabella's line from the beginning of the book.

"Wait. Ye know about the Sword of Cortés?" Arabella asked in interest of my knowledge of the sword.

"I know a thing or two about pirate legends and stuff," I replied with a small wink. She smiled back at me.

"But, how is this possible?" Fitzwilliam asked. "The island we just _happen_ to land on after the storm just _happens_ to be the one we were looking for?"

"Well, that's luck for you," Jack said with a smile, and began clambering down the wall. Tumen followed.

"It's not luck. We're here _because_ we were looking for it," Arabella said. "The sword—or the scabbard—clearly drew us to this place." Arabella began to climb down as well and I followed with some struggle.

"Stuff and nonsense," Fitzwilliam retorted. But he hurried down after us anyway.  
  


Jack tried to keep our spirits up as we explored the city, but it was difficult. Even the promise of the Sword of Cortés wasn't enough to erase the horror of the things we saw. Since Jack and everyone else had no idea where the sword might be, we had to look everywhere.

We saw the skeleton of a washerwoman still bent over a tub, the clothes inside long try and eaten away. What was once a tavern—I believe would have been chillingly similar to the tavern I knew Arabella worked at before she met Jack—was populated with dead patrons, mugs of dust in bony hands.

Humans weren't the only dead in the city, either. There were pens of cattle, a dog right on the heels of a cat, rows of delicate bird bones in edges of houses. And behind it all, the wind groaned, blowing grit right into all of our eyes and teeth.

"Wow," I murmured. "Just imagine waking up one day and go about living your life. And then the next moment, everyone just... _dies_."

"What could possibly have happened here?" Fitzwilliam wondered. "Plague? A fire?"

"It was a curse," Tumen muttered.

"The Sword of Cortés," Jack said. "As soon as Stone-Eyed Sam lost the scabbard, the kingdom went to ruin."

"'The loss of the scabbard will cause kingdoms to scab over,'" Arabella muttered to herself.

"This is just where the commoners lived," Jack said. "There's nothing royal about all _this_." He pointed into a shattered dining room, where four grinning skeletons sat around a collapsed table, still waiting for their dinner. "Let's get to that pyramid for a better view."

Jack scurried up the stepped sides to the top of the pyramid like a squirrel. I watched as he scanned the island from the top.

After a minute, I saw him stumble quickly back down the pyramid, almost falling as he went.

"Storm. Coming. Huge," he panted, barely able to breathe.

"Like the one that nearly sank us all?" Fitzwilliam asked.

"Huger," Jack said, waving his arms excitedly. "Have to take cover. Winds..."

"Look!" Arabella shouted, pointing up one of the boulevards. It led straight to a huge, ruined, pyramid-shaped palace that was previously hidden from our view by the overgrown jungle that surrounded us. Its stone walls, once grand, were crumbling and strained. The vines that crawled up the walls were twisting in the wind like venomous snakes.

"Well, looks like the very place one might find a cursed sword," Jack shouted back, holding his bandana against his head to keep it from blowing off.

Arabella nodded. " _And_ a good place to take cover!"

Then a bolt of lightening shattered a strand of trees directly behind Jack, nearly almost making me scream. "To the palace!" he commanded.


	5. The Pirate King

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **(A/N: Haha well I lied about maybe not posting before New Years. I'm really busy all week and I'm not online a lot right now, but I decided to find time to still post a chapter for my old little story. Happy New Years!)**

_ (Rein's POV) _

The palace was a sight to behold. Even in its current, decrepit state, it had an aura of grandness. The doors, long since rotted off their hinges, revealed a formal hall that led to the rooms within. I was absolutely in awe.  _ I have never seen anything so hauntingly beautiful, yet fascinating, I thought to myself. _

Jack surveyed the entrance. We weren't going to be as well protected here as we had hoped. What had once been a solid, sturdy structure was now almost rocking in the storm. The wind howled through the cracks in the boulders and bricks, and moaned down the hallways. It was difficult to see more than a few feet ahead or above through the gloom of the storm. Large sheets of spiderwebs ripples in the corners, and dead vibes made eerie scratching noises on the floor. This place was a whole lot more creepy that I probably would have pictured it when I read the book.

Ornate trees and flowers were carved into the floor's giant flagstones. Rectangular, decorated warriors danced and fought. In the middle was a giant plaque of a god with a feathered headdress—-Quetzalcoatl.

_ I remember reading about the traps in the book... _

"I don't trust this," Tumen said, motioning toward a carving on the floor of the palace. "This is the mark of an Aztec god."

"Oh, good," Jack said. "That means we're on the right track!"

And then the floor gave away.

Tumen yelled and pitched into the giant pit that had opened up.

I fell after, screaming. Fitzwilliam lunged forward and grabbed my arms. I looked down and saw Tumen hanging onto my ankles. But the weight of me and the boy, and the momentum was too much. Fitzwilliam slid over the floor and was pulled to the edge of the pit. Jack threw himself to the ground and grabbed Fitzwilliam's ankles.

It wasn't enough.

Jean grabbed onto Jack's legs, but we were all still being dragged toward the bottom of the pit.

Me not being a very strong person and with the weight of the boy below dragging me down, I began to feel myself slip.

"I'm slipping!" I cried.

One of my arms slipped out of Fitzwilliam's grasp. The sudden jerk pulled us all down another few feet. Fitzwilliam was yanked over the edge now. I could see his face scraping against the ledge, drawing blood.

I could hear Constance being thrown aside, not without her brother apologizing first, and Jean threw himself on top of Jack.

"Arabella!" Jack called out. "Rip off your skirt!"

" _ What? _ " she demanded, shocked.

"Just the outer one," he said in exasperation. "Tie it around that column and grab onto Jean!"

From hanging below in the pit, I heard a large tearing in the fabric. I could also hear poor Constance yowling unhelpfully.

Arabella tied the piece of her skirt to the column and around her waist. She grabbed onto Jean and our decent into the pit was finally stopped. I looked down into the pit past Tumen. Gleaming in the darkness below were what looked like giant, sharp spikes sticking out of foul-smelling black water. I looked back up to see Jack's head was over the ledge.

"Bit of a close one, mate." Jack shivered.

Slowly straining and groaning, the three of them managed to pull Fitzwilliam out, then me. And then Tumen, who was swearing profusely in whatever language he spoke.

With the floor opening up under us, the hall was now a wide black pit with narrow ledges in either side.

"I don't like heights," Jean said, looking nervously over the edge.

"I thought you were  _ monsieur _ sailor extraordinaire," Fitzwilliam taunted.

"That's different!" Jean protested.

Jack, Arabella, and Tumen took one side and me, Jean, Fitzwilliam, and Constance the other. We kept our backs to the wall and moved slowly, edging one foot along at a time.

Hearing snaps in the black water below, I kept my head up looking forward at Jack who was across from me.

"Are those  _ alligators _ down there?" Arabella said.

Jack looked down, and his eyes bulged. "Don't look," he suggested, "or you'll wish they  _ were _ alligators."

After what seemed like ages, we finally reached the other side of the pit.

"Well  _ that _ was bloody awful," Fitzwilliam said, brushing a fleck of dust off his spotless jacket. Although his face was scratched from the edge of the pit, Fitz somehow didn't have a hair out of place.

"Right? I thought I was going to die!" I said in agreement. Assuming I would be joining them in the rest of their quest, this would not be the last of these moments.

"Jack, look," Arabella said.

In the room beyond, rows and rows of skeletons knelt, their bony faces toward the floor. And before then, seated in an enormous carved stone throne, was the grinning skeleton of Captain Stone-Eyed Sam.

Even though there were no windows and the once-lit torches had rotted in their sockets, a ghostly bluish light illuminated the room.

Droplets of rain trickled through the areas where the grand marble ceiling had crumbled away, sprinkling the dead king and his subjects.

The pirate himself was still dressed in the richest fabrics, all rotted and full of holes. Velvet, silk, and the finest linen were now as worthless as Arabella's ruined skirt. A medallion of solid gold hung on a heavy chain around his neck. An orb of finely polished onyx filled his left eye socket—the stone that gave Stone-Eyed Sam his name. On his bony head was an elaborate pirate hat that managed to escape the perils of time. Its broad leather brim and feathers were all intact, and the captain still looked cocky in it.

Stone-Eyed Sam was a pirate king, even to the end. And most importantly, he had a really great hat.

"Everyone was right in the middle of something," Arabella said. "It's like they all dropped dead at once."

With Jack leading, the crew and I picked our way through the skeletons. It was hard to avoid all the bones. Something crushed under Arabella's foot; too late she realized it was the hand of an outstretched subject on the floor. Even I had guiltily stepped on some bones myself.

"Loyal to the last," Jack said, leaning down and looking directly into the skull's eye sockets. "Touching, really."

Arabella shivered as we moved to the throne. I felt yet another crunch under my foot and quickly stepped away.

Jack let out a strangled scream.

Everyone jumped and turned. Fitzwilliam reached for his sword.

" _ Look _ ," Jack said in despair, pointing.

A rope hung in the shadows, one end leading up to the hole in the roof, where the rain was now pouring in. The other end of the rope hung in an elaborate knot directly over Stone-Eyed Sam on his throne.

And the pirate king himself was missing something very important.

"His left arm," Fitzwilliam said. He turned to Arabella. Jack had already torn his bandana off in frustration and thrown it to the ground, in which I picked up for him with my thumb and forefinger. "You said that all the legends recalled the Sword of Cortés clutched in Sam's left hand!"

"It's been ripped from his shoulder," Jean said, giving a low whistle. "Probably whoever left this rope." He bent down to examine the dust on the throne.

"Whoever did this came very recently—and must have avoided the booby-trapped grand hall completely. He knew enough to come around the  _ back _ way," Jack said, stamping his feet in frustration.

"Well,  _ that _ was smart," I uttered in a sarcastic, yet disappointed tone.

Jack ran a hand through his now bare and almost soaking wet hair and stomped over to Stone-Eyed Sam. He glared at the skeleton, which seemed to grin at him from underneath his leather tricorn.

Without a moment's hesitation, Jack swiped the flamboyantly plumed hat from the ivory skull and brushed it off, then popped it on his head.

"Jack! The man is  _ dead _ ," Fitzwilliam said disgustedly.

I burst into laughter. "Well, it looks amazing though!" I said, trying to keep spirits high.

"Well it  _ is _ quite a fabulous hat! Just the sort of hat a powerful man  _ should _ wear," Jack said. He turned to Fitzwilliam. "It's the  _ least _ he owes me, considering all the trouble we went through to get here," he shot back defensively. I tried to keep myself from visibly swooning over him. Jack looked absolutely dashing in his new hat!

"I can't  _ believe _ this," Arabella said sadly, sitting down in the steps of the throne. "Now all I have to look forward to is me dad's tempter and serving pints of ale to the slime of the earth at the Bride for the rest of my life...until marriage or death."

"It seemed so lucky, finding this island. As if we were already at the end of our quest," Fitzwilliam sighed. He tried to put on a brave face but couldn't hide his disappointment. "I suppose it will be bananas and some horrid wife for me now."

Even Jean, Tumen, and I weren't unaffected by the sorrow of our new friends. Constance mewed pitifully and Arabella, in her sadness, instinctively petted the cat behind her ear, before realizing what she was doing and pulling her hand quickly away.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Jack bending over to the dead pirate. He turned and slipped his finger into Sam's eye socket and pocketed the pirate's stone eye. He snapped something off the captain's neck and turned to us with a grin. It was a key with a leather cord.

"There's one thing about kings and pirates, my lads...and  _ lassie _ ...and cat...beast...thing," he said, holding the key up. "They both  _ love _ treasure. And sword or not, I'll bet Stone-Eyed Sam had quite the haul hidden somewhere in this place."

Everyone's—even Constance's—eyes lit up at that.

An hour later, we had searched every room in the palace—including the dungeon and treasure vaults, but we found nothing more than a few doubloons. We didn't even need the key. The wooden doors to the vaults had rotted away. There were some pretty lamps and old furniture and bolts of rotting silk in Captain Stone-Eyed Sam's bedroom—but nothing shiny, precious, and easy to carry.

"Someone has come already and cleaned this place out," Fitzwilliam observed.

"No, there's no footprints," Arabella pointed out, "Like there were around the throne room."

Jack frowned, thinking.

"Maybe this Sam was...allergic to treasure," Jean said, scratching Constance under the chin.

Jack's eyes lit up. "He was a pirate long  _ before _ he was a king," he said.

"So?" Arabella asked, gathering around him. The rest of us followed.

"So? Old habits are hard to break, Bell!" he said, his voice echoing in the royal bedroom. "Give me a hand with this," he ordered, pulling at the enormous ebony bed.

Jean, Fitzwilliam, and I bent down to help. "What nonsense is this, Jack?" Fitzwilliam demanded. "We are not looking for his chamber pot, I hope."

Jack sighed in disgust while ripping up the small, rotted rug that was under the bed. "You're not thinking like a pirate, Fitzy. When it comes to treasure,  _ trust no one _ . And keep it close at hand. Believe me, I  _ know _ ," he added darkly.

He ran his hands over the floorboards and grinned when his fingers hit a grove that he was sure he would find. He blew a cloud of dust away and pointed to a keyhole in the door hidden in the floor. The key fit perfectly.

"Light me a torch, someone," Jack ordered, handing over his flint-and-tinder kit. Arabella and Tumen quickly did as he said.

He opened up the hatch and stuck his head down, holding the torch before him.

"Well?" Jean asked impatiently.

"Well," Jack said calmly, dropping the torch down into the blackness, "see for yourself."

Fitzwilliam, Arabella, Tumen, Jean, Constance, and I crowded around eagerly. But it was Fitzwilliam who saw it first.

"By the King's blood..." he swore.

The torchlight flickered in what looked like a roomful of gold.


	6. Treasure and Fortune

_ (Rein's POV) _

I was absolutely amazed by the beauty of all this treasure! I'm not very much of a jewelry or treasure kind of girl, though I do like my few nautical necklaces and pirate coins, I had never seen so much gold, so many beautiful things! Trinkets and baubles everywhere. Goblets made out of carved crystal. Pretty little daggers in golden hilts with amethyst pommels. Chests overflowing with shiny yellow pieces of eight. Statutes cast in solid, precious metals: dogs and jaguars and gods and birds of paradise. Constance lovingly rubbed up against a carved onyx cat with ruby eyes the size of plums.

At the point where I couldn't drape anymore jewelry over myself, I began stuffing gold and jewels into my pockets. Just then, something fell out of my pocket onto the ground and I quickly picked it up.  _ It's my phone! I forgot all about it!  _ I turned away from everyone else facing a wall, wiped the dirt off the screen with my sleeve, and tried to turn it on. I pressed on the home button and power button numerous times, but it wouldn't turn on.  _ Dammit! Waterlogged... _

"Oh great!" I muttered to myself, quietly enough for no one else to hear. I quickly put my phone back in my pocket and stuffed more treasure in it.

Arabella sat, dazed, covered in jewelry. Ropes of pearls. Gold chains as thick as her thumb with ruby-encrusted pendants hanging from them. Bracelets studded with diamonds and emeralds. A small crown sat on her head, tipped sideways.

Jack also draped some of the jewelry over himself; there was just no other way to carry it. All of the trunks and chests had rotted away, spilling their contents onto the ground. Only one was still good enough to carry out the treasure, and it was already full.

"All right, that's enough for the first trip," Jack decided, stuffing a few more rings into his pockets. "Let's load up, get it to the ship, and come back for the rest later."

Tumen laughed, watching Jean pose with bracelets and a crown. "I thought this was going to be  _ un désastre _ , washing up on this island," Jean admitted. "What an adventure—what  _ good _ fortune—it has turned out to be!"

"Speaking of fortune—I shall not need my  _ father's _ fortune now," Fitzwilliam murmured. He held a decorative sword made of pure gold. "He can disown me, for all I care. I shall return to England as my own man...."

"I can do  _ whatever _ I want," Arabella said, dreaming of the sort of freedom money would buy her. "I could buy my own tavern. Or a whole estate and be a lady of leisure!"

"I'm going to get myself some new clothes," Jean said. "And maybe my own ship."

"And a horse!" Tumen added.

"Now, wait a moment," Jack said, interrupting. "We'll do nothing with this treasure but finance our great quest—we still have to find the Sword of Cortés!"

Fitzwilliam and Arabella blinked, slowly remembering why they were there in the first place.

"What's so  _ great _ about this sword?" Tumen asked. "She seems to get a lot of people killed."

"It has great power," Jack said, eyes glowing. "The power to cloud men's minds. The power to conquer empires. The power to forge kingdoms. This power can be ours. But more important, we can keep it out of the hands of the pirates that are searching for it. And maybe even rid ourselves of the pirates of the Caribbean once and for all. Then the seas will be free for  _ us _ to rule!"

We all stared at him.

"Um, Jack. The last part? Ye're a little ambitious there?" Arabella said. Then, smiling, she continued, "I'm all for ambition."

"Agreed. It is a noble cause," Fitzwilliam decided. "I completely devote myself and my sword—" he looked at the useless golden decorative one in his hand, "my  _ other _ sword—to avenging my sister."

"I'm all in for power!" I said with a smile.

Tumen and Jean looked at each other.

"I have worked on a merchant vessel ever since I was a child. I have been through enough pirate attacks for a lifetime," Jean said thoughtfully. "Sure, why not. Pirates are an evil lot," he said. Then he added: "But, the power and empire part? I like that, too."

"Beats hauling bananas around," Tumen said, shrugging.

"Then we're agreed. To the  _ Barnacle _ !" Jack declared, grinning.

We made a strange procession heading back out through the palace. Energized, the seven of us marched through the dust and shadows, covered in jewels and carrying even more. The fierce wind in the halls didn't bother us half so much now, except when we had to walk against it with the heavy treasure in our hands. Even the spooky blue light and the rain in the throne room didn't dampen our spirits.

Jack took extra care guiding his end of the treasure chest around the throne. "Easy now. Don't want to disturb the dead...Hello, what's this?"

He dropped the chest—causing Fitzwilliam, who was carrying the other half, to fall on his rump. Jack had noticed something he hadn't seen before. He squatted to get a better look at the floor beneath the room that hung from the ceiling. I squatted down next to him to see what he was looking at.

The footprints Arabella had noticed were very strange indeed. "The fellow who took our fabled sword will have a lot of trouble running away with it. Look at this."

Everyone else gathered around.

The prints were only  _ left _ feet—as if the man who made them had  _ two _ of them.

"Left-Foot Louis!" Tumen and Jean shouted. They looked at each other in horror. Arabella blanched.

Before we could say anymore, a rumble and crackling came from above. The storm had broken a piece of the stony ceiling away. It fell into the crowd of kneeling skeletons. A flood of water poured through the now-huge hole in the ceiling, soaking every one of us.

Constance hissed and yowled and hissed again, shaking herself like a dog.

"To the  _ Barnacle _ !" Jack declared.

"Are ye  _ mad _ ?" Arabella said, shaking her hair out. "It's a disaster out there."

"She is right," Fitzwilliam agreed. "Let us wait it out in one of the other rooms, perhaps make a small fire for the night."

"Well, you lot do what you want then," Jack said, shrugging. He pulled up his sleeves and bent over to pick up the chest as best as he could. "All if you may stay here among the crumbling ruins with the skeletons and the falling stones and the fearsome Captain Torrents. I, however, am taking myself, my ship, and this chest of gold, and getting out of here. Savvy?"

"Captain Torrents? What on earth are you talking..." Fitzwilliam began. Then he turned and saw the figure standing behind us. Tall.  _ Very _ tall. With crazy gray eyes.

And very, very angry.

_ This was the infamous pirate Jack had pissed off in the beginning of the book! _

"To the  _ Barnacle _ !" Arabella shouted. Jack rolled his eyes.

Fitzwilliam and Tumen together grabbed the other side of the chest, and Jean grabbed Constance. The seven of us ran out, with Torrents right behind us.


	7. The Infamous And Dreaded

_ (Rein's POV) _

The driving wind and rain grew worse as we ran through the palace. It beat down on us through the roof. We'd gotten a good head start on Torrents, but for every two steps we took, the giant only needed one, and he was gaining on us.

When we came to the hall with the carved stone floor—and the pit hidden underneath—Jack, Fitzwilliam, and Tumen skidded to a halt, barely stopping in time. The trapdoors has closed again, but we all knew what lay beneath us.

"There's no way we can bring the chest, Jack!" Fitzwilliam shouted. "We'll have to leave it behind. We'll never be able to walk the ledges with it!"

"We are not going anywhere without the treasure!" Jack shouted back.

Torrents came around the far corner, with a murderous look on his face. My heart dropped to the floor.

"No, look..." Arabella tapped on the floor with the golden scepter she was carrying. "The traps only work if you're trying to  _ get in _ , not  _ out _ !  _ Come on _ !"

They picked up the chest and we continued running. Torrents was at the far end of the room, and before we left the palace, Jack ran back across the floor.

"Jack!" Arabella called out as the trap opened once more.

Jack nimbly leapt back onto the ledge to rejoin us before the trap fully opened.

"Good luck getting around those narrow ledges, mate!" Jack called out to Torrents. "Let's go!" he barked at the crew.

Desperately scrambling, we managed to make it out of the palace and the city. I fell a bit behind as we were running through the jungle. I barely even kept up with the three holding the chest since I was a slow runner. I fell short of breath, my stomach began to cramp, and my legs started to weaken. I suddenly tripped on a root and fell flat on my face in the dirt. I looked up through the sheets of rain and saw that the rest of the crew had already left me behind and disappeared, not knowing I had gone missing. I pushed my upper body up with my arms and looked around, fearing Captain Torrents was on my tail.

My heart pounded and blood drained from my body. Tears filled up my eyes as I shut them tightly, hoping to wake up from this terrible dream. But nothing worked, I was still here.  _ This is it for me...  _ I thought dreadfully.

"James!"

"Huh?" I looked back up and blinked droplets of rain from my lashes.

Through the rain, I realized it was Jack.  _ He came back for me!  _ He knelt down a little and put out a hand. "Come on! He's gaining on us!"

I reached out to take his hand before I felt him grab me by the arm and yank me back onto my feet. He pulled me along as we ran through the jungle. It felt like he was going to rip my arm from its socket.

We ran through the wind and pouring rain, and Jack still kept a very firm grip on my arm, in which I held onto his as well. I couldn't believe this was happing; I was in physical contact with who I thought was purely fictional. I squinted as I looked behind me and saw a large figure from afar. We eventually made it out of the jungle and to the beach where we rejoined the rest of the crew.

"James! You're all right!" Arabella said in relief. She ran and gave me a hug.

Jean held Constance and Fitzwilliam and Tumen stood by the chest, where it's been dropped by the shore.

Jack scrambled under the pouring sheets of rain to pick up the fallen coins from the chest. The surf was smashing against the shore and beating upon the beach as rain painfully pelted us. The storm was so strong that we were being tossed by the winds. Jean turned, trying to see through the driving rain to look for Torrents. I was doing the same.

"Jack..." he yelled. "Look! He's made his way out of the palace!"

Torrents stood at the top of a nearby dune, roaring in anger. Over his head, terrible, dark clouds spiraled and boiled. Rain was pouring all around him. But not  _ on _ him—he was completely dry in the eye of the storm. It was finally clear. The storm  _ was _ following us—well, mainly Jack, because  _ Torrents _ had been following us!  _ He _ was the eye of the storm, and I could see the horror on Jack's face as he realized this. The storm was coming  _ from _ the pirate!

"Give me back the scabbard, boy! Or suffer the consequences!" Torrents snarled at Jack.

"What are your plans, mate? Drench me to death?" Jack asked, stepping between us and the pirate.

Torrents growled. As he grew angrier, the winds whipped even more fiercely around him. Hail suddenly began to pelt all of us.

"Dock scrum!" Torrents shouted. "If you don't fear me, which you'd be a fool not to—you will no doubt fear the power of the cursed Davy Jones!"

Jack laughed. "Oh, yes, Davy Jones. My fine Tortsy, Davy Jones is only a legend."

Torrents also laughed—but it was a brutal, sick laugh.

"I've  _ met _ Davy Jones," the giant growled. "In the flesh. Consider yourself blessed that ye never had dealings with him who collects souls of sailors and binds them to service before his ship. I was a 'guest' aboard his ship—maybe you've heard of it?—the  _ Flying Dutchman _ ." We all shivered at the name. "Aye. The same terrible vessel whose very timbers are cut from the bodies and souls of the doomed seamen. And  _ I _ would have been doomed, too. But  _ I _ was smart. I was able to make a deal with Jones for my freedom. Now, I must find the Sword of Cortés and its scabbard, and bring them to Jones within one year's time or forever be bound to the  _ Dutchman _ . He branded me, just so I wouldn't forget."

Torrents ripped open his shirt. Our eyes widened. On the pirate's chest, on scarred, blood-red tissue, was the feathered serpent—the same mark on the scabbard of the Sword of Cortés.

"This mark  _ angered _ the heathen gods, for they hate Cortés, and anything to do with him," Torrents continued, closing his shirt again. "They cursed me. Rain and storm wherever I go—worse when I've grown  _ angry _ . And, my dear boy, right now, I'm very  _ very _ angry."

There was a blast of thunder. The trees nearest Torrents were ripped out of the ground like weeds by the wind. Hail and rain hit like sharp glass. A static charge, like a blanket of lightening, covered the pirate's body. Sam's hat flew from Jack's head, and it was moments before he was able to sweep it up and put it back on.

Torrents strode to our crew, glowing with lightning. The seven of us backed down the beach, unable to look away. There was no way we could get into the  _ Barnacle _ , if it had even survived the storm-churned surf. Behind us, the waves were the color of mud, crashing like a barrage of cannonballs upon shore. Wind whipped a stinging, salty spray into me and our crew, burning badly scraped and bruised skin. I had to keep blinking to be able to see at all.

Torrents continued to move forward, and we kept retreating. The pirate was going to force us into the stormy ocean— he was going to drown us!

My foot was caught on a small driftwood log as we retreated to the surf and I fell backwards into the water on my rump. Arabella quickly pulled me back up and I grabbed onto her for support.

I knew how things were going to turn out in the end, but the feeling of doom still clouded over me. It isn't until you are directly thrown into a scene is when you are able to grasp how the characters are truly feeling.

Jean set one foot backward—and yelped when it landed in the surf. A heavy wave struck out backs. Lightning crackled around Torrents's head.

Arabella screamed and grabbed Fitzwilliam's arm. Tumen clutched Jean and Constance. Fitzwilliam drew his sword and made sure the others were behind him, but he didn't stop backing away.

Only Jack stood his ground defiantly.

Dry as firewood in the eye of the storm, Torrents reached for his sword. The air around him still snapped and popped with electric charge.

Jack reached for his hat, which was now sopping wet, the brim filled with rain.

Jack took it off and calmly tossed the rain water at Torrents.

There was a crackle and sputtering and hissing and finally a tremendous explosion. Jack was thrown backward. Water and lightning were not a good mix—something most people wouldn't understand in this time period. But I knew Jack, of course, wasn't most people.

Torrents screamed in agony. Then he fell to the ground, unconscious, his body smoking.

"What has happened to him? How could mere water have such effect on the devil himself?" Fitzwilliam demanded.

Jean and Tumen looked at each other in wonder.

Jack just smiled knowingly and mumbled quietly, "I told little Benny that trick I showed him with the kite and the key would someday prove useful. Just hope the lad remembers it as he gets older. Might do him some good, too."

"I'm sure it will, Jack," I said quietly with a smile, knowing who he was referring to.

"Look!" Arabella shouted, pointing to the shore. The storm was vanishing like vapor: clouds pulled back, the wind died, and the sun shone—brighter than ever. Knocking Torrents unconscious had halted the storm. Miraculously, the  _ Barnacle _ was still there, listing, but still afloat. Wherever Jack had decided to anchor it had saved it from sinking.

We wasted no time heading out. I had little time to take in the fact I was actually aboard the mighty  _ Barnacle _ as we had to rush to get the ship ready to set sail. While Arabella and I stowed the treasure and began bailing water below deck, the four boys worked on better securing the mast and sails. Constance walked around the ship, purring as if she owned it.

But as we sailed away, gray clouds began gathering again behind us. "Torrents must have woken up," Arabella murmured. Isla Esquelética was under a cover of clouds again, the storm growing black over its beaches and jungle. Another ship was also headed away from the island, in the other direction.

"That must be Torrents's ship," Jean said. "I suppose his crew mutinied."

"Well, that's it for him," Jack said, cheerfully. "Torrents is  _ never _ getting off that island! The seas around it won't calm until his temper dies, and we can wager our lives  _ that _ will never happen."

"Hear, hear!" Arabella said with feeling, raising a silver goblet she'd found in the treasure room.

"All right then, lads!" Jack said, grinning. "You, Fitzy—haul up the main sail. Arabella and James, make secure that rigging over there. Tumen, try to figure out where in the blasted Caribbean we are. Jean, you take the wheel!"

"Where to, Jack?" Jean asked, grinning.

"Why, to find Left-Foot Louis, of course," Jack said, putting one foot up on the rail and looking out to sea. He adjusted his hat. "And oh," he added as an afterthought, "From now on, please remember...

"It's  _ Captain _ Jack Sparrow!"

The  _ Barnacle _ sailed on, and I beamed at the sight of a very happy Jack. He was in his element, and I was so much in love!  _ I'm still not sure whether this is a dream or not, or when I will wake up if it is, but as long as I'm here, I'm determined to do what I can to help my new fellow crew mates and their captain to acquire the Sword of Cortés for themselves. _


	8. A Whole New World

_ (Rein's POV) _

It had been a little more than a couple weeks since I joined the crew of the mighty  _ Barnacle _ on their quest for the powerful Sword of Cortés. I got to see so many places since we sailed off from Isla Esquelética! Like Isla Puerta, where Jack had traded his new hat for sea turtles to have the ability to support humans on water, and Antigua. We bought quite a bit more things than we should have aside from the cargo we needed, especially Jack who kept insisting we needed several empty jars. I tried to hold myself off from buying too many souvenirs since I didn't know how I would be able to get them back home with me,  _ if _ I was even going home, and we had limited space aboard that little boat anyway. I bought myself some more clothes just so I had another set to wear, and I even bought some pirate boots like Jack's! Even after all that time, I still wasn't very used to life in the past.

It was quite boring without any of the entertainment I was used to. There were no phones, no internet, no television, no nothing. None of those things existed. We did quite a bit to entertain ourselves while we were out at sea though. We played cards and dice games, and sang sea shanties, which thankfully I had already practiced some back at home. Reading was a quieter activity. Someone had to keep watch at night to keep the ship on course, or in case Torrents had made a raft and went after us, so we all took turns each night staying up on deck. I didn't mind during the nights it was my turn to keep watch since I was a night owl anyway, and I kept myself busy with a book under a lantern.

I would say that hygiene was probably the worst part of it all. Hygiene wasn't that much of a concern back then, especially at sea. We all kinda got used to each other's smells after spending weeks crammed in ship that was barely a little fishing boat. I had never been that big on showering or bathing, so that part wasn't that big of an issue. At one of the ports we stopped at, Fitzwilliam, the one who made the most effort to be as cleanly as possible, with Arabella coming at a very close second, had showed me this powder that he used on his hair. It was like an equivalent to dry shampoo, and I began using it as an attempt to make my blonde scraggly hair not as noticeably greasy.

However, there was no running water back then, and toilets did not exist, especially aboard ships. Having to go relieve myself was not pretty. I was pretty concerned about feminine hygiene...for like the once a month thing, especially since everyone on the  _ Barnacle _ still believed I was a boy, but I was able to hide it with a bunch of rags that I secretly threw off the ship when used.

There wasn't very much privacy on the  _ Barnacle _ . All the boys and myself slept on one side of the sleeping quarters while we agreed to give Arabella her space since she was the "only" girl and left her with the other side to herself, using a privacy curtain to separate her from the rest of us.

Sometimes at night when everyone was asleep, I pulled out my phone and hoped it would turn on for once, although it was hopeless since the inside of the phone was probably long ruined by seawater. As much as I missed my technology, electricity, running water, and good food, and I also missed some of my friends back at home, and as miserable as it was being out at sea, this was pretty much everything I had wanted. Getting to be on a ship with all my heroes, especially Jack, was absolutely amazing!

My curiosities were relieved when I got to see what the crew of the  _ Barnacle _ did between the adventures that were recorded in the books. Aside from the mentioned entertainment, we spent time talking and joking around with each other, like when some of the boys and I had long discussions about gross topics or have burping contests and such. I felt a bit of nostalgia from memories of joking with friends in high school. It was quite funny and interesting to see them behave like actual teenagers, considering how grown up they seemed in the books.

Sometimes, Jack and Fitzwilliam would bicker and argue about petty stuff, at times causing Arabella to break the two up. Or sometimes Jack would purposely annoy Fitz like a child, like trying to poke him or touch his hair, leaving stink bombs for him, or sometimes picking up the cat and sticking her butt in his face. Meanwhile Constance would sometimes run off and run in between our feet or go missing down below decks, hiding in a chest or under a bed, and Jean had to chase after her while Tumen stood idly by and I laughed.

That morning, when everyone had already woken up and was up on deck. I slept in a bit since I was not really a morning person and I was still getting used to their schedule. I sat up blurry eyed and gazed around the lower deck. Every morning I woke up to since I ended up here, I still believed I was waking up at my friend's apartment or my own house, and suddenly remembered I was on the  _ Barnacle _ .  _ It must be a really intense dream...if it is one,  _ I thought.

I instinctively reached down below my bed, grabbed my phone, and tried to turn it on again.  _ Right...broken. Like Jack said, old habits are hard to break.  _ I stuck my phone back under the bed with my other things.

I looked around to make sure no one had come down here and threw off my shirt. I had wrappings around my chest to conceal the fact I was a girl, and I had secretly took it off at night to let myself breathe.

When I reached down below to grab another shirt and my wrapping, I noticed something on my arm and stopped. I had ignored that tattoo I had found on it for so long, I didn't ever really read it again. " _ 34 _ ."  _ Wait...I thought that said "55" before... _

Before I could wonder anymore, I heard a creak in the wood and I suddenly spun around like a deer in headlights.  _ Oh god...I hope it's just the creaking of the ship rocking, or the cat sneaking down. If it's anyone else, it better be Arabella. She's also a girl so she would probably understand. _

_ Nope...it's Jack... _

He stood at the bottom of the stairs just as frozen as I was. His eyes were wide and his mouth gaped open. And there I was, staring back with a full bare chest.  _ Oh god...oh shit...oh fuck...this cannot be happening to me right now! _

I snapped out of it and quickly pulled out my other shirt and wrappings and covered myself as Jack slowly backed away up the stairs and shut the hatch.

I shut my eyes tightly waiting for something to happen. Then, I heard it...

"JAMES IS A  _ GIRL _ !"

I quickly wrapped the wrapping back around my chest, but a bit more loosely since there was no point in wrapping it tight anymore, threw on my shirt and tucked it into my breeches. I ran up to the deck and saw a horrifying sight. The rest of the crew, even the cat, stared at me with wide eyes while Jack sat on the ground against the railing with his forehead in his hands and his elbows on his knees, clearly having a bit of an existential crisis.

"I-I can't believe it! James is a bloody  _ girl _ !  _ He's _ a  _ she _ ! The lad's a  _ lassie _ !" Jack trembled, shaking his head.

" _ Mon dieu _ —I would have never known in a million years!" Jean said in disbelief.

"So would I," Fitzwilliam agreed. "I could never see James in  _ that _ way."

"Me too," Tumen muttered, shaking his head as well. "We all thought he—she was a boy this whole time."

Constance hissed at nothing like usual.

Arabella was the first to shake herself out of shock and set her jaw. "Are the lot of ye  _ daft _ ?" Arabella angrily asked the boys, marching over to my side. "All of ye are a bunch of dolts to fully believe James was a man! Look at her! She's got hips like I do! She's got curves and a round face!"

All the boys stared blankly at me, trying to see what Arabella was pointing out. My face grew red and I looked down in shame. I bit my lip, trying not to cry.

Arabella turned to me and changed her tone. "Just ignore them. Tell me dear, what is your name since you don't really go by James, do you?"

I thought for a moment. I almost thought about using my real name, but I decided to go by my alias. "Rein. I go by Rein." I dropped my male voice, but I kept the accent.

"Ye know you didn't really have to hide yourself from us. Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Arabella asked with sincerity.

I didn't know what to say. "I-I've always fantasized about living out at sea for practically my entire life, like going on adventures and being free. It's not really possible for me to find a place at sea, since I'm a girl and all, and..." I stopped. Tears welled up in my eyes and I felt a lump in my throat. I turned around, facing away from the crew, and sobbed, "...I didn't want you all to be mad at me that I lied. Being on the  _ Barnacle _ was all I ever wanted."

Everyone went silent. I quietly wept as I heard Arabella step away and inaudibly whisper something. I then felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh, come now, lad—lass," It was Jack. He turned me to face him. "We aren't mad. We were just...shocked. It was a surprise!" and he muttered, "A pleasant surprise at that— _ ow _ !" Arabella stomped on his foot and stepped back to the others. "All right, too soon," he breathed out. I almost laughed a little.

"All that I'm trying to say is, we're not mad," Jack continued. He turned me to face the rest of the crew. "We all come from different backgrounds, like me for instance. I'm a stowaway...Arabella was a barmaid..." Arabella smiled. "Fitzy is an arisocrap..." Fitzwilliam frowned and angrily corrected him. "Jean and Tumen were sailors..." the two youngest crew members nodded. "and even the bloody cat has her own thing, whatever that is. Apparently was a human or something..." Constance hissed at him. "And we're all here for one reason, to find that sword and rid the world of pirates for good! ...andrulethesevenseas," he quickly added the last part. He looked at Arabella and hesitated for a moment, then looked back at me and finally finished, "We're sorry."

I turned to Jack and he opened his arms a little. I hugged...and that hug felt like it lasted forever, even though it probably only lasted a few seconds. I was reminded of why I was here.  _ I still can't believe it! Just a few weeks ago, it was impossible for me to meet my hero and the love of my life, and now, I'm standing on this very ship with him in an embrace. I wish he could know how much in love I am with him. _

I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and smiled a little. "It's okay, you don't really need to be sorry. It kinda just happened..." I smiled at everyone else, quietly thanked them, and went below deck to finish getting dressed.

Later in the day, I sat alone on the railing, letting my feet dangle over the water, feeling the cool dusk breeze blow my hair in my face, and smelling the salt of the sea. I still felt bad about earlier and I needed some alone time to think. I thought about everything that had happened in the last couple weeks.

_ Even after being out at sea for this period of time, I still wonder if I'm even dreaming. It must be an awfully long dream, unless something happened and I'm in a coma? Although my memory isn't usually that great, I still remember most things too well so far for it to be a dream. Everything feels so real too. The emotions that I had felt real, the breeze blowing in my hair feels real, the way the ship is rocking against the swells of the ocean feels real, and the feeling of suffocating while I was drowning felt very real. I'm so confused at what's happening to me, but I'm not sure how I can get answers. Everyone will think I'm absolutely mad if I tell them I'm a person from the future who somehow magically transported here. _

While trapped in my own thoughts, I didn't realize someone else was on deck with me. I felt a hand on my back and a harsh shove. It happened too quick for me to hang onto anything, and before I knew it, I was pushed off the boat and into the glowing water.

I gasped and sputtered. I brushed my sopping hair out of my face and adjusted my bandana before looking up to see who it was that pushed me.

Jack's head popped up over the railing with a smile and greeted a simple "Ello." He nimbly leapt onto the railing, sitting exactly where I sat before I was shoved off.

"What in the bloody hell was  _ that _ ?!" I yelled out, paddling to the side of the ship.

Jack laughed a little. " _ That _ was me hoping that would make you feel a bit better."

"By pushing me off the ship?!"

"By going for a nice evening swim? Yes!" Jack breathed a satisfied smile closing his eyes, and leaned against the rigging with one leg hanging off the ship.

I tried to splash him from down where I was, but he was too far up for the water to touch him. I tried to reach my arm out for his leg. It took me multiple tries, but I was able to grab his bare ankle and pulled.

"Hey—What are you doing?! You can't do that! I am the captain here!" Jack yelled as I pulled his leg, struggling to pull him off.

After a minute of struggling, I situated my feet against the side of the ship and made one final pull, finally bringing him down and he hit the water with a splash. Jack broke the surface and shook his hair out as I laughed at him.

"Oh, brilliant!" he exclaimed. He splashed me and swam to the side of the ship. I swam up right next to him.

I looked up at the railing wondering how I was going to get back on the ship when Jack spoke up. "So now that you and I are alone, lad—I mean lass, how about we talk?"

I froze. "Talk?" I always hated it when people were vague like that.

"Well you know, none of us even knew you were a girl, so I suppose you would tell me about yourself?" Jack said.

"Like, down here?" I asked. I struggled a bit to stay afloat even though I was clinging onto the ship's side.

"Well, yes?" He realized I was struggling and furrowed his brows. "You're not a good swimmer, aren't you?" he asked.

"Err, kinda, but not really," I answered.

Jack reached around my torso to keep me afloat. I tensed up a little, but he didn't seem too concerned.

"So now, tell me," he said.

"Um..." I didn't want to know what would happen if I told him everything, about where exactly I came from. I thought and chose my words carefully. "Well,...I was raised in a city...with a family. Probably half of the people in my house aren't like exactly the greatest. I've always been fascinated with piracy and seafaring adventures since I was really young, and I've always dreamed to be out at sea. Where I live, something like running away out to sea is not really possible. Not even by a long shot. Like, I don't even really know what happened, but I just suddenly woke up on the  _ Seraph _ . I don't know how I even got there in the first place! I'm like in the middle of this storm, drowning, about to die, and I think Jean and Tumen saved me..."

Jack had stared off as he listened. He glanced back at me with almost an observant expression.

"I like the word 'like' as much as the next mate does, but I notice you seem to use 'like' a lot, lass," he remarked.

My eyes went wide. As much as I was able to keep this fake accent I was putting on, which was very difficult, the Californian in me was still coming out.

"Ah, yes, um," I stammered, "that's just how we talk where I'm from, heh." I awkwardly laughed.

A familiar voice came up from the ship. "What in the world are you two doing?"

We looked up and saw Arabella looking down at us from the railing.

"I came up to let you know supper is ready and I see you two going for a swim together," she said amusingly.

"It's his fault!" I blamed, splashing Jack. He splashed me back.

Arabella extended a hand, which Jack left me to take first. I was pulled up on the deck and Jack followed.

"You little shite, I can't believe you did that!" I laughed jokingly as I squeezed water down the legs of my breeches.

"Anything I could do since you've been a bummer all day," Jack snickered as he wrung out his sash.

"All right. I'll be waiting down below deck with everyone else," Arabella said.

She went down below deck and Jack and I took a moment to wring out our clothes before following her. As we headed to the hatch, a soft cool breeze blew in my face and I heard a sound that made me stop in my tracks.

"Did you just hear that?" I asked with slight panic in my voice.

The noise happened again. It was so strange, mystifying,...and beautiful.

Jack stared at me puzzled. "Um, what noise?"

"Oh—um. Never mind! I guess I've just been hearing things," I replied, trying to laugh it off.

He proceeded down below decks while I stood there frozen.  _ Oh no...I think I know what that noise is... _

I knew it wasn't going to be very long until our next adventure...


	9. The Tale Of Left-Foot Louis

_ (A change of pace this time! This time, we're going to be delving into Jack's POV for the first half of this chapter. Savvy?) _

Our proud ship  _ Barnacle _ set sail from Tortuga a few weeks ago. I must admit Arabella and Fitzwilliam were quite the landlubbers, but things were improving. We took on a few new crew members, a Creole chap called Jean, a Mayan named Tumen, and a lad-lass called James (who now went by Rein since we found out she was in fact a lassie), when we washed up on what we thought was a deserted island, after a vicious storm—a raging beast of one—started by the dreaded Captain Torrents, incidentally. Alas, we also picked up Jean's raging beast of a cat, a creature he claimed was actually his sister under a mystic's curse. Now that I had fought off and, of course, soon defeated the rampaging Captain Torrents practically single-handedly, and found a whole lot of treasure, I clearly deduced that the magnificent Sword of Cortés was now in the hands of the fearsome pirate Left-Foot Louis, and we made fair speed after him.

"As we all know," I began, facing my mighty crew, who stood before me on the deck of the  _ Barnacle _ , "the diabolical pirate captain we are following lost his right foot in battle."

I tossed a perfectly polished onyx stone, once used as a glass eye by the legendary Stone-Eyed Sam himself, around in my hands.  _ It might make a nice piece of jewelry: maybe a necklace or something... _ , I thought. I looked at the stone before sticking it in my pocket.  _ I probably should have taken his skull too. Would've looked real nice on a shelf. _ A swelling wave heeled the deck. I grabbed a line for balance, ducked as the mainsail jerked toward me.

I continued. "The captain, the notorious Left-Foot Louis, swiftly slew his fearsome boatswain, quickly lopped off his foot, and had it expertly reapplied to his own leg by the ship's cook, the equally notorious pirate Silver, who, was having recently sailed the high seas with a certain doctor, had henceforth become skilled in the art of limb-replacement surgery. Only after said surgery was it evident that Louis, in his panic to get his appendage back, severed the wrong foot."

Fitzwilliam, my annoying aristocratic crewmate, laughed obnoxiously.

"Oh, rubbish." my lovely lass, Arabella laughed.

Another wave rocked the boat. Arabella clung to the railing to maintain her balance. Fitzy landed on his rump, while Jean and Tumen scurried to steady the ship. Rein was the only one who closely listened, although she took a bit of a tumble as well, she quickly picked herself up and stared at me again, eager to listen more. I scowled at the rest of my crew.

"Your attention!" I barked. "Your captain is speaking."

"Jack, my friend," Fitzwilliam said, picking himself up off the floor, "you may  _ think _ you are a captain, but look closely around you. This is surely  _ not _ a ship, and we are  _ hardly _ a crew."

I stepped up to Fitz. He may be taller, but I command as much, if not more, respect.

"Question my authority again, mate, and you'll be having this discussion with Davy Jones," I said. "On this ship, you call me  _ Captain _ Jack Sparrow."

"Yeah, come on! Let the boy dream," Rein said jokingly. I snorted at the lass's comment. She's developed quite a mouth on her throughout the weeks we've sailed as a crew.

"Fine...Jack," Fitzwilliam said with an uncharacteristic smirk.

I huffed and moved toward the bow where Arabella stood staring out over the bowsprit.

"Missing Tortuga much, Bell?" I said sarcastically.

"Yeah, sure," she responded with equal sarcasm. "I miss me dad terribly." She ran her hand along the boat's railing and stared dreamily out to sea.

I hoisted myself up onto the bow and swung my legs around so that they dangled in either side of the bowsprit. It was a glorious day at sea. The warm sun shone brightly, making the crystal clear water sparkle. The salt air filled me with a happy feeling of adventure as I took a deep breath.  _ I must say, this is much better than traveling as a stowaway, as I had before... _

I surveyed the  _ Barnacle _ . Arabella had settled onto the deck, sitting cross-legged with her back against the foremast. Arabella's tangled auburn hair fell in front of her face as she studied Tumen's astrolabe, a navigational device that used the stars as a way to determine the ship's position. She seemed deeply engrossed, which that was a good thing to me: the more crew members who knew how to navigate, the better. Fitzy secured the lines and watched the horizon with Rein, who sat on the railing looking out to sea with an almost anticipating look on her face. She seemed a bit...off though. All the while Jean and Tumen went about their duties. And best of all—Constance, that foul-tempered beastie-cat-thing that Jean claimed to be really his sister under a curse, was nowhere to be seen.

_ Ah, yes, _ I thought proudly,  _ this is a right trim ship and a right fine crew. Although the ship is a bit tattered, splintery, and leaky,...and the aristo and the cat are quite annoying. _

I jumped back down onto the deck and clapped my hands. "Back to my story," I said.

The crew moaned, but I rolled my eyes and continued despite the protest.

"Upon discovering the error Silver had made, Louis quickly had the cook-cum-surgeon-cum-pirate tossed overboard. But Silver was under the protection of Sirens, who attacked Louis and used their power to fuse his botched job into place forever. He was clawed across the face by a Siren's talons, which is why he now has three scars running from his right eye over his nose to his left jawbone."

"How did  _ you _ know?" Rein asked.

"I hear it from...places...like how many other pirate tales are told," I responded.

"Oh, ye will believe anything," Arabella said dismissively.

I swiveled all the way around to face her. "Then, pray tell, why do  _ you _ think the man in question has two left feet?"

Arabella did not take her attention away from the astrolabe. "Accident of birth," she said flatly.

"We are obsessing over the wrong details," Fitzwilliam put in. "Louis is a dangerous pirate, and we should be concerned with how we will defeat him and secure the Sword. It will not, rest assured, be easy."

"You're not frightened, are you, boyo?" I asked with a smirk. "I warned you this was no mission for the lily-livered and pampered."

"I should think I have already proved I am neither," Fitz snapped, turning his head sharply to glare at me.

"No need to get huffy," I said. "Any sane man would be afraid of going up against Louis. So perhaps you're saying you're crazy. Hmm. That's a bit worrisome."

Fitzwilliam sighed and shook his head. Looked like he wasn't going to take my bait this time.

_ Heh, I love playing around with this bloke, _ I thought to myself, almost smirking.  _ Though despite my arguing, I must admit Fitzy is right. Louis will not give up the Sword. Not when it was rumored to grant great power to whomsoever wields it—and omnipotence when it is united with its sheath. Of course, I—my crew ever so badly wants the freedom that having the Sword would provide. But equally important, we need to keep the sword out of the hands of dangerous pirates, like Louis and Torrents—and especially out of the blasted hands of the evil Davy Jones. _

A gust of wind billowed the mainsail, and the heavy boom swung around. I quickly jumped out of the way, toppling into Fitzy. We both went sprawling on the deck, and a wave washed over the railing, soaking the both of us. The wave had also pushed Rein off the railing down onto the deck next to us. I smoothed my long dark hair and scrambled back onto my feet.

"Big wave," I said.

"Geez, here we go again," Rein said. She stood up and steadied herself, and carefully walked over and sat by Arabella with her arms around her knees..

Fitzwilliam got up from the now-slippery deck more slowly and carefully. "I agree. Why is the water getting so rough? It was not calm earlier, but it was also certainly not this violent. And there is nary a cloud in the sky, so it cannot be that Torrents has escaped and is stirring up the sea with his storms."

"Perhaps not Torrents, but it could be Louis," Jean said. "Who knows what power the Sword wields, even without the scabbard? And in the hands of Louis, a little bit of power will go a long way."

Jean continued. "He is certainly a vicious man, diabolical and fierce. The only thing about your story that was not accurate, Captain Jack, is how the pirate became marked with those facial scars."

"Oh?" I scoffed. "And how are you such an expert?"

"We met him," Tumen said, returning to his place at the wheel.

Everyone turned toward the helm to stare at Tumen. Then a yowling sound filled the stunned silence. Constance leapt down from her hiding place behind the mainmast and landed right in front of me, finally showing her gross mangy self. She let out an angry but frightened hiss.

_ (Rein's POV) _

Jack narrowed his eyes as he stared at Constance. The shabby cat's tail flicked slowly, purposefully, as she stared back. For a moment there was a standoff. Then Constance let out another hiss; her back arched and she bared her nasty yellow teeth. Jean bent down and picked her up. "Ah,  _ ma petite _ ," he crooned to the flustered cat, petting her gross matted coat. "My sister is clearly nervous enough simply  _ hearing _ Louis's name.  _ Please _ don't make things worse for her, Jack. She's suffered enough."

Jack smirked, then took off his bandana and brought it to his chest. "Please accept my most heartfelt apologies, m'lady," he said to the cat, with an exaggerated bow.  _ Ugh, why is he so adorable! _ I thought.

"Oh, enough already," Arabella said. Arabella gazed up at Tumen, who rested a hand lightly on the wheel. "What do ye mean, you  _ met _ Left-Foot Louis?" Arabella asked.

"Just as I said," Tumen replied. He

relaxed against the helm, as the sails billowed and the ship made a steady course in the sea, which had calmed down considerably.

"Not only did we meet him," Jean said, "we faced him in battle. We barely escaped with our lives."

Tumen nodded. "He is a fierce fighter."

Jean petted Constance a moment, then he glanced at Tumen as if he wanted his permission to tell the story. Tumen shrugged.

"It was not quite a year ago," Jean said, leaning against the rail and holding Constance tightly in his arms. "We made port in Martinique, and we were unloading the cargo. Precious stuff, those spices. Worth their weight in gold—literally. And quite handy to have on hand in the kitchen." He scratched Constance under the chin. "You do love your cumin and coriander in your Creole rice, don't you,  _ ma sœur _ ?"

"Get on with it," Jack barked impatiently.

"We were working with the longshoremen at the docks," Jean explained. He put Constance back down on the deck and she immediately licked her paws and began washing her face. "They seemed a rough and rugged band, but they often are, so I thought no more about it."

"That work does tend to attract a hardened lot," Fitzwilliam commented, nodding.

"How would you know?" Jack asked. "One whiff of the wharf and you'd probably faint."

I laughed at his remark.

" _ Would you let Jean speak? _ " Arabella complained to Jack. "Go on, Jean."

"Thank you,  _ mam'selle _ . We unloaded crate after crate," Jean continued. "The sweat beading on our brows, trickling down our backs. We were nearing the end of the load, and I was making my way down the gangplank balancing a trunk on my back. Constance, eager to see the town, I'm sure—she's always so curious about far-flung places—dashed between my feet."

"Jean fell," Tumen said.

" _ Vrai _ ," Jean said with an embarrassed shrug. "I rolled all the way down the gangplank. And then—this part is bad—the trunk crashed open when it hit the dock. Luckily, this trunk held none of the rare and precious spices we were carrying—it was part of the silk shipment. So I was relieved."

"Relieved to have dropped  _ silk _ ?" Fitzwilliam asked.

"Silk doesn't break," Tumen explained.

"Still, anything ruined would come out of my miserly pay," Jean said. "I wanted to gather up the fabric before it could get dirty or torn."

"I had already begun to collect the silk," Tumen said.

"But then all worries about my money flew out of my mind when I realised I'd fallen at the feet of the  _ foreman _ .  _ Mon Dieu! _ I would catch it for sure, now. The foreman would complain to the owners, who would complain to my captain...." Jean shook his head at the memory.

"They don't like their cargo spoiled," Tumen agreed.

"Understandably so," Fitzwilliam said.

Jack opened his mouth to make a wisecrack comment to Fitz, but he noticed a warning look from Arabella and kept quiet.

"Seeing as I had fallen next to the foreman's left boot, I thought the best course of action would be to move to the right...away from the towering brute! So I did—and slammed into  _ another _ left foot! I had heard all the legends about the dreaded pirate with the two left feet," Jean said. "I had no doubt as to his identity."

"Did he know that you knew?" Arabella asked.

"And more important, did you know he knew that you knew?" Jack added. "You know?"

Tumen looked at him, confused.

"Louis stared down at me," Jean continued. "I gazed up at him, too afraid to move. In a low, gravelly voice, he muttered not to move a muscle or make a sound. I thought I was done for."

"I didn't know then what was happening," Tumen said.

"I cannot see that mad pirate allowing anyone to live who could identify him," Fitzwilliam said. "However did you escape?"

Jean scooped up Constance and cradled her to his chest. "With the help of my dear sister. Constance leaped into the air and tore her claws clear across Louis's face. That gave me the chance to roll out from under his feet. It was she who saved me."

"And well she should," Fitzwilliam said. "She was probably attempting to make up for the fact that it was her fault you were in such a predicament in the first place."

"I didn't blame her," Jean protested. "And she scratched him so badly, he still bears those scars today. So, perhaps Sirens were involved in the fusing of his flesh, but  _ non _ , it was  _ my _ sister who marked him."

"What happened next?" Arabella asked, completely absorbed in the story.

"I shoved him backward," Jean said, "hard as I could. His wig had slipped off when Constance had lunged for him, and there it was—his famous bright red hair—for all to see."

"I let out a cry of warning," Tumen said. "Our crew swarmed to the railing."

"That was when everyone aboard our ship realized Left-Foot Louis had done away with the  _ real _ foreman and the  _ real _ crew. It was his  _ own _ shipmates unloading—and  _ stealing _ —our cargo."

"Clever chap," Jack said with a smile.

"Our brave and loyal shipmates piled out of every nook and cranny of the ship and threw themselves into the melee," Jean said. "It was awful. Knives flashing, fists flying.

"Then, Left-Foot Louis ripped open his shirt to display his thick chest covered with strange tattoos that looked like quill markings. He pointed to me and to Tumen—"

"We were fighting side by side," Tumen said.

"—and he shouted that he's finished a thousand men and has a marking on his chest for each one. He swore we would regret that day. He was going to find us, slaughter us, and he would skin my dear Constance alive."

Constance's fur puffed out, and she hissed again.

"Oh, don't be afraid, dear one," Jean crooned. "We won't let any such thing happen." He looked back up at us. "Louis managed to take out two members of our faithful crew and escape. We have lived in fear of him ever since."

"Wow," I murmured with wide eyes.

Jack whistled through his teeth. "Well, that is  _ some _ story. How much of it is  _ true _ ?"

"All of it!" Jean said.

"He's not lying," Tumen added.

"To my point earlier," Fitzwilliam said, "this only bolsters Louis's reputation as driven, cruel, and quite mad."

"We can't let him get the Sword," Arabella vowed. "It's too dangerous."

"Isn't that  _ exactly _ what I said before?" Jack said. "Keep up, lass."

Jack stared at her and I looked at her more closely. She was a greenish shade of pale and looked faint. "Are you sure you're all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Arabella said. She stood and leaned against the railing, waving me off and facing the water. "It's just a bit of seasickness."

I was starting to feel the same way until... a faint, ghostly sound wafted out of the water. I froze, unable to move as the sound flowed through my ears. I  _ knew _ what was happening. While Jean was telling his story, I was trying to think of a plan on how to get through this next part of the adventure, knowing I'd soon have no control whatsoever.

Then, as suddenly as it arrived, the sound floated out over the sea once more. I was finally able to move again. The  _ Barnacle _ began to rock violently, and when I looked up, we saw before us a tall mountain of an island.

Jack looked at us. Arabella still somewhat seemed to appear sick, and I was starting to feel sick as well in fear. Fitz, Jean, and Tumen looked at the island in confusion.

"Um, where did that come from?" Jack asked.

"I can assure you," Tumen said, looking up from his navigational tools, "that island was not there a moment ago."


End file.
